Five miles away from the preset position of Zhaojia Village of the Jin Army, Wang Shuanglong, the commander of the first battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment, was commanding his subordinates to fight hard. The pressure of the Japanese army from both the north and the south made the situation more and more critical.

In the face of a hail of bullets, the spearhead soldiers sent by Wang Shuanglong to the banks of the Qinglong River finally came back to report that no trace of the enemy had been found in that area.

The battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army suddenly lifted his spirits and decided to immediately retreat in that direction. Although he knew that the east bank of the Qinglong River here was adjacent to the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and its mountain was steep and there was no gap to climb into, but at this critical moment there was no other choice: if the troops could safely withdraw across the river, they would at least get rid of the pain of being attacked from both sides, and they could face the Japanese across the river.

The 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion took the lead in action, and they were to quickly cross the Qinglong River and establish a position on the east bank. At the same time, Wang Shuanglong, who had rich combat experience, put forward a retreat formation that was connected from head to tail and in a drum type, and was running from the westernmost platoon to the easternmost platoon on the defense line of the 1st and 3rd companies that were responsible for blocking the north and south respectively, and arrived at a new location to continue the blockade, and so on.

If this retreat had taken place during the day, it would have been immediately observed by the Japanese troops on both sides. However, the hazy night helped the Eighth Route Army a lot, and the retreat was carried out quite quickly and smoothly at the beginning, until the Japanese army sensed the transfer of fire from the opposite defensive line, and rushed up from the area abandoned by the Eighth Route Army one by one, and finally realized that the opponent was withdrawing from the position of being trapped, so the Japanese soldiers on the north and south sides clamored and closed together, and evolved into a fan attack.

This was the most dangerous juncture of the first battalion of the Eighth Route Army - almost two companies had already waded into the east bank of the Qinglong River, and the last 100 men retreated to the west bank while fighting. If the stalemate continues, the troops of the west bank, which is backed by the river and almost a company, are in danger of being annihilated on the bank.

Just when they were helpless, the sound of horses' hooves and gunfire suddenly sounded in the rear direction of the Japanese army in the south--the cavalry company of the Xu Brigade Detachment arrived!

Xia Lianshan and his cavalry galloped all the way to the sound of guns, riding condescendingly on horseback, and by the moonlight that appeared from time to time, they could barely see the current situation. Xia Lianshan gave an order, and all the cavalry took out their pony pistols from their pouches and opened fire on the nearest Japanese camp.

The Japanese soldiers, who were attacking with their heads forward, were caught off guard, and the parts that had been hit were suddenly disorganized, and they were forced to turn around to deal with the stormy attack from behind.

It was in this delay that the Eighth Route Army on the west bank of the Qinglong River gained precious time, and most of the officers and men waded across the river.

The cavalry company, which had succeeded in one blow, also understood the tactical purpose of the first battalion to cross the river at this time, and before the Japanese soldiers could adjust their offensive, Xia Lianshan had already shouted to restrain the cavalry to go down the river nearby, and ran to the opposite bank with a crackle. The infantry cavalry rendezvous.

As a result, the battle evolved into a new situation in which the two armies faced each other across the river.

Knowing that the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army had just put on a posture to meet the enemy in Zhaojia Village, and invested an infantry regiment with an artillery company's strong strength, Wang Shuanglong was surprised and delighted, and at the same time praised the detachment leader Wu Zijian's clever calculation.

"The Jin army is still quite enthusiastic about the War of Resistance," the cavalry company commander of course wants to highly respect the children of his hometown: "They sent the deputy brigade commander to personally command the battle, and this battle has to be fought!" ”

The two commanders had an urgent meeting and decided to block the enemy across the river along the east bank of the Qinglong River, and at the same time quickly move downstream. In this way, it is just right to withdraw into the right flank position assigned to the Eighth Route Army by the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army.

Xia Lianshan originally wanted to lead the cavalry to jump back to the opposite bank, re-penetrate the flank and back direction of the Japanese army to carry out the attack, and cover the retreat of a battalion of infantry downstream, but the commander of the first battalion resolutely denied it. Wang Shuanglong believes that the current situation is quite favorable to his side, although the Qinglong River is only foot and neck deep, but the river surface of more than 30 meters wide seems to form a natural barrier, the river bank is lush with vegetation and trees, and the degree of concealment is far greater than the field battle on the wasteland just now.

At this time, the Japanese troops on the other side of the river really couldn't find a better way to strike, and the troops of nearly two squadrons could only chase the Eighth Route Army across the river and open fire.

Shigehei Saijo, the commander of the Japanese wing who had regrouped his forces, was greatly enraged by the sudden loss of the superiority of the north-south flank attack, which had already been firmly victorious—the cunning Shina army not only withdrew from the predicament of being flanked, but also withdrew to the opposite bank of the river in front of it in one fell swoop.

Enraged, Saijo Osa ordered an infantry squadron to force a crossing of the river, but was hit by dense fire from the grass and jungle on the opposite bank and was forced to retreat.

When it was discovered that this Chinese army was actually fleeing downstream along the river bank while fighting, the Japanese wing commander rolled his eyes and ordered one infantry squadron to stop in place, and another squadron continued to pursue in parallel across the river; Ten minutes later, the infantry squadron that had stopped on the spot, and there was no blocker on the opposite bank, so they crossed the river smoothly and pursued them again from the rear of the Eighth Route Army.

This move surprised Wang Shuanglong and Xia Lianshan, and the commander of the first battalion had to order the 1st Company to swing back to block the formation and retreat.

"Dalong, see it, the Japanese have changed formations! Now attack us from both the flanks and the rear flanks - we can't retreat so passively anymore, I'll lead the cavalry company back to the opposite bank, and we'll give him a flanking attack too! ”

Listening to Xia Lianshan's words, he saw that the Japanese army was changing formations to chase and kill, and his own brigade was crowded between the western foot of Guanmen Mountain and the east bank of the Qinglong River, which was indeed difficult to perform. Wang Shuanglong reluctantly agreed to his old comrade-in-arms: "Lianshan, you must be careful, the other side is a wilderness, there is a lack of concealment, don't be bitten by devils!" ”

"Don't worry, our horses are faster than them, and it's not so easy to bite me! It is not far from the front line of Zhaojiacun of the Jin army, so I will send two cavalrymen back to report the news, and at the same time try to lead the Japanese on the opposite bank to the front of the preset position! ”

In the area of Zhaojia Village, on the central position of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, Tian Mingda, commander of the 570th Regiment, received two messages sent by the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army.

The previous news is that the first battalion of the Xu Brigade detachment is very likely to be entangled by the Japanese pursuers after withdrawing from Lihuapu, and it is difficult to get out, and the main force of the cavalry company has gone to search for support; The right flank position is now under the command of a small number of cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, and the people and horses of the Black Rock Cliff cottage that have just arrived are deployed.

The Jin Legion Commander was stunned at first - when did the bandits from the Black Stone Cliff dispatch? How did you directly enter the position of the Eighth Route Army? - Then suddenly realized: Grandma's, it should be the female bandit leader Liu Wumei! It is very likely that this little lady chose the path north along the Qinglong River after escaping from Longwan Village with her minions. I have heard that she has been hooking up with the Eighth Route Army, and if you go north, you can reach Xiping Village and Hekou Village, where the Eighth Route Army is stationed, and from there you can also return to her bandit nest in Guanmen Mountain.

After pondering the taste, Tian Mingda's restless color heart became restless again - in this way, the coquettish boss did not flee far, and the right-wing position was on the east bank of the Qinglong River, which was only two or three miles away. Tonight is too careless, so that he accidentally fell into this little girl's way, if there is still a chance, he will never let her go again!

However, the commander of the Jin army did not send a team of soldiers to arrest the other party as Liu Wumei feared, as Liu Wumei feared, and immediately sent a team of soldiers to arrest the other party; After all, this is the coming of a big war, and the heavy Japanese troops are pressing on from the front at any time; Tian Mingda was in the central position, and he bore the brunt of the attack, so he didn't dare to be distracted.

Tian Tuanzuo, who was restless, later received a second report from the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army: The first battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment had quickly withdrawn to the right flank position along the east bank of the Qinglong River, and hundreds of Japanese troops pursued in parallel along the west bank of the Qinglong River, and it was estimated that they would soon reach the front of the preset position; The cavalry company was currently jumping into the wilderness west of the Qinglong River to harass the Japanese troops.

Soon after the second message arrived, the clear and audible sound of gunfire was getting closer and closer. The Jin Legion Commander understood that the battle was about to begin. He immediately sent people to the reserve position behind the central position and reported to the deputy brigade commander who was sitting in charge. At the same time, the first battalion of the 570th Regiment and the second battalion of the left flank position were ordered to prepare for battle. In the darkness of the night, the six mortars of the brigade artillery company stood still for the time being, and after the battle began, they estimated the accurate firing range before firing.

The first to withdraw was the cavalry company of the Xu Brigade detachment. Xia Lianshan had specially instructed the two men who sent the letter to the commander of the Jin Army to be sure to inform the three preset positions on the left, center and right: the cavalry company would withdraw directly to the front of the central position, and strive to lure the Japanese army to a wide front, and each position must not fire at the sound of horses' hooves.

Now, the sound of horses' hooves heard by the Jin officers and soldiers and the Black Stone Cliff Cottage armed forces on the preset position was Xia Lianshan leading the men and horses to run over. Immediately, the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army made a sharp turn and began to turn towards the Qinglong River, running horses and wading back to the right flank position.

Behind the cavalry retreat track, the Japanese soldiers had an infantry squad on five trucks and chased after them in a horizontal line - the Japanese wing commander did not pay much attention to the difficult cavalry of the Eighth Route Army since he found out that the difficult cavalry of the Eighth Route Army had jumped to his flank to harass him, and directly divided an infantry squad to deal with it by car, just to drive it away. His attention was still focused on the infantry of the Eighth Route Army facing each other across the river - there should be two or three hundred people, which can be determined to be the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and must be completely annihilated.

Shigehei Saijo asked the staff officers of the wing headquarters around him, and so far, they have chased a total of more than ten kilometers to the south. According to the current situation of the Eighth Route Army's general shortage of ammunition and equipment, the group of enemies being pursued should be close to the point of running out of ammunition.

It's time to speed up and deliver a fatal blow!